Russia Considering Banning 'Beauty and the Beast' Because LeFou is Gay

Last week, Beauty and the Beast director Bill Condon announced that LeFou, Gaston's sidekick, would be gay in the new live-action remake. The response to Disney's inclusion of an LGBTQ character has unfortunately been marred by some bigoted reactions, like the Alabama movie theater that announced that it would not be showing the film upon its premiere on March 17. And now, it seems that Beauty and the Beast might be banned in an entire country: Russia.

In 2013, Russia passed a law banning all "gay propaganda," explaining that the legislation prohibits the spreading of "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations." The ruling essentially made it illegal to depict gay and straight relationships on an equal spectrum, and also prohibited people from distributing information about gay rights.

Mashable reports that Russian lawmaker Vitaly Milonov has urged culture minister Vladimir Medinsky to take immediate action against the new Beauty and the Beast film. In his letter, Milonov said, "the public can not watch in silence the fact that the film distributors offer under the guise of children's fairy tales - an obvious, blatant, shameless propaganda of sin, perverted sexual relations." According to The BBC, Milonov's colleague Alexander Sholokhov explained that if the film "violates the law," it will be subsequently banned.

Of course, this sort of legislation and logic is extremely discriminatory and offensive. Just as the statement from the Alabama theater was a reminder of how far our society has to go, the reaction from Russian lawmakers serves as a reminder of how far humanity has to go in order to be fully progressive and inclusive.